Oregon Public Broadcasting

Vancouver, British Columbia-based Finavera Renewables got a federal permit Thursday to build the nation's first experimental wave energy plant.

It will be anchored in Makah Bay off the northwest tip of Washington State.

Ocean energy consultant Roger Bedard says the 4-buoy network will open a whole new line of wave energy research.  It will look into how much energy can be extracted from the ocean.

Roger Bedard: "Obviously no one would ever thinks of covering the entire coastline with these devices and knocking the waves down to where we have no waves at all.  But is the answer  50%, 25%, or 10%? No one really knows."

Scientists will also be researching the impact of wave energy buoys on migrating whales.  Federal regulators are reviewing permit applications for seven wave energy projects along the Oregon coast, plus projects in California and the East Coast.